Customer Reviews

How to Sell Anything on Amazon...and Make a Fortune!

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been selling on Amazon for over four years, and I learned how to do everything as I went along. While I have been successful, some mistakes were made. Nothing serious, but there were a few instances of negative feedback and lost revenue that were a direct consequence of what I did wrong. Therefore, with my experience, there was very little in this book that was even slightly new to me.
However, if you are thinking about selling on Amazon or are just getting started, then this is a book that you should read. It will take you through all of the steps in getting an account started and explain how to manage your account. There are a large number of screenshots, so one can argue that the detail is too fine. I do not accept that argument, it is always better to include one shot too many than leave out one that could be critical to someone. I estimate that if I had read this book when I was just starting out selling on Amazon, I would have avoided mistakes that cost me in the neighborhood of $100 of lost revenue. Therefore, at a retail cost of $24.95, it would have returned the investment fourfold.
The advanced features of selling on Amazon are also covered. Starting and managing auctions, how to establish a zShop, marketing yourself on Amazon, paid placements, selling intellectual property, how to take advantage of Amazon's international sites and how to become an Amazon associate are all examined in sufficient detail. Important details like getting an ISBN number for your own book are included in the coverage. I strongly recommend this book if you are in the early stages of selling on Amazon.

If you have never tried to sell on Amazon nor explored the rich online resources for Amazon sellers, then you may find this is the book for you. BUT...

As an experienced Marketplace seller, I learned NOTHING from this book. It is just another one of those fat damned computer books with page after page of screens that you can see for yourself in full color on your own monitor if you care to employ your own keyboard.

The author wastes time on Amazon zShops (to be dis-continued) and Amazon Auctions (time for a mercy killing) and then drones on with wuzzy advice such as "Always monitor the level of shipping supplies on hand and reorder your supplies with enough lead time so you don't run out of any items. Running out of key supplies can force your products to sit in your warehouse unable to be shipped, which can ruin your customer satisfaction and, ultimately, your bottom line."

This "insight" was chosen at random and for the full 365 papery pages it never gets any better, folks.

Knowing absolutely nothing about selling on Amazon.com when I ordered this book, I found it to be very informative and a good introduction. Perhaps the information in this book can be found on the Amazon.com website as other reviewers have noted, but if so I couldn't find it and felt the $17 price tag was well worth it. The book covers many different methods of selling on Amazon.com, including auctions, zShop, and Marketplace, along with advertising, the Associates program and the Advantage program. The one glaring omission as far as I was concerned (and the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) was shipping. There are only a couple vague references to how shipping costs are calculated and collected, leaving me with more questions than answers.

Though this is well written and flows nicely, the author is painfully vague in many instances and doesn't elaborate where it would be most useful. If you have listed one item on your own through Amazon to sell, then you've already read over 1/2 this book. Many other reviewers were very accurate in their opinion that this information is on Amazon website already, free of charge. I bought the book anyway even after reading the reviews figuring maybe there was some secret knowledge it could impart. The only helpful pieces which I haven't tried yet were recommendations for searches and promotions, etc. Chapters are spread very thin; some items in the table of contents turn out to be a paragraph or 2 on one page and the onto the next chapter! I'll be relisting this incidentally because no one should pay more than $10 for this book.

If you have never purchased or sold anything on Amazon before ... or, if this is the first time you have ever logged on to the internet ... then this book might be for you. Or, if you've tried selling on Amazon and can't figure it out, this might be for you. Truly, this is for "dummies" only.

I hope this doesn't sound tongue-in-cheeck - I'm really trying to be sincere. If you are of reasonable intelligence, and have used the internet, then you won't learn anything new here. A LOT of filler, no criticisms, no unique ways to use the site. And a LOT of buttering up Jeff Bezos...almost as if these two guys are wanting a job or something. (Or maybe they are somehow related to Amazon or Bezos?) Also, much of the book is already outdated.

For me, this was a waste of time. For you...it all depends.

If you're considering selling on Amazon, this book is a fantastic, comprehensive resource. If you already sell on Amazon, you'll find plenty of off-the-beaten-path tips and tricks, as well as a good helping of fundamentals that you may need to be reminded of. Great info on "word of mouth" trends, the marketing power of product reviews (and writing them for others), and much more.

I could not put this book down once I started reading it, and you won't either! Teaches you how to sell your products on Amazon, with a very easy to learn, in-depth approach. I still carry it with me every time I do anything on Amazon.

When I 1st got the book I went straight for chapter #10. Basically, 'How to get your Amazon Account up & running.' But, if I had the chance to do it over again I would definitely start from the beginning. Author: Michael Bellomo advise is simple and to the point. Bellomo answers all questions you might have on starting an account based on your specific needs; whether you are a small, medium or large business.

The only suggestion I might recommend, is a little in-sight in to the best way for a small business to upload UPC/ISBN #'s to an excel spreadsheet. Using only 1 or 2 PC's. What kind of Barcode Scanner/Program do you recommend, for the money. We had a Dell that came with the computer, that we found out was a $750 piece of junk.

Other than that, this book is a must read for anyone interested in selling on Amazon.
John G. Youman

There seems to a few new books published on becoming an online book seller. While I realize this book is about selling any item on Amazon, the reality is most of us seem to be selling media - books, CDs, VHS Tapes and DVDs. So if you are new to this whole concept and have never really walked through the process yourself, this is a very basic introduction.
There are always people who are new to computers, the web, and using Amazon to buy and sell books and other media.
My rating is only for introducing the selling your own items on Amazon instead of or in addition to Ebay, yard sales and the local flea market or swapmeet.
It is not going to carry you very far, nor are the other ones that are coming out, beyond that point.

I purchased this book with the idea of having somewhere else to sell besides Ebay. some of the initial sign up information is ok and I had no problem. When I went to search auctions that's where the bottom fell out. I wanted to sell a few things to see how it went without paying for storefronts, ect. I spent about 2 hours going around in circles according to the screen shots and directions trying to do an auction search and to find out what is selling. All to no avail. I stopped short as the book was showing out dated screen shots and direction wasn't even close to Amazon actual links. This book is ok for initial sign up but without back up bucks for storefronts and the extras required, is of little use because of the huge changes Amazon did to their site. I gave it 2 stars for basics. Don't pay full retail. Maybe good for selling books only. Doubt if you'll make a fortune as Amazon really cuts into profits of what you do sell. See fees section on the Amazon site.

I had purchased the authors' last book in the ecommerce area, eBay Your Business and found both very similar in tone and reading level. Basically, this book is a good basic start for anyone who has no experience with selling on Amazon. For those more experienced, it probably has lots of helpful tips though I suspect that for the more complex topics entrepreneurs have to tackle (taxes, international shipping) one might have to rely on experience!

On a side note, the cover for the book is completely different than the one shown here on Amazon. This doesn't affect the content of the book but it is a little weird.